Land of Circles
by blacklitdogstar
Summary: Sophie and Howl have come to their greatest challenge yet: facing their stereotypes. Sophie must contend with the perfect princess. But the news doesn't stop there. The portal between Ingary and Earth is cracking and Howl's history is coming out with it.


_I do not own Howl's Moving Castle nor do I possess the rights to any of the characters._

_I do possess the consequences of my horrible spelling along with Kendra , Tindra, and Zepher._

* * *

"Oh, look, Michael. The castle's back!" Martha rushed to the window of Cesari's with Michael following eagerly behind her. The bakery was unusually empty that morning and Michael was spending a bit of time with Martha before opening the flower shop. He'd picked the flowers a bit earlier that day so as to acquire such elusive free time. Running the shop by himself for the last few months had been hard work but certainly manageable. Besides, he was nearly done with his apprenticeship and there was another boy to help him out. Not to mention the money Sophie was hiding from Howl's normal job.

"Yeah, it is!" Michael exclaimed, spotting the castle meandering along the foot of the hills. "We'll have to actually go and visit the _castle_ this afternoon and see what they say when we knock on the door." Even though Howl, Sophie, Calcifer, and Morgan hadn't really gone anywhere, it was still nice to see the castle roaming the hills again where it belonged. The smoke-stained building seemed more at home just outside of Market Chipping, scaring the locals as it used to. Michael was enthralled, but looked down to find Martha biting her lip.

"I have to work late tonight," she said sadly, "we have a commission and it's nearly spring. You know _that_ season is like for the cake business." Michael's heart fell just a bit but he quickly hid it so as not to worry her.

"That's okay," he said, smiling and wrapping his arms around her skinny waist, "we can do it another time. It's not like they're going anywhere soon. Have to give Morgan a break sometime."

"More like have to give Sophie a break sometime," Martha laughed. She stopped herself quickly, her lips pressed together in worry. "I still fret for her sometimes. Some of Lettie's stories are just _dreadful_. I just don't feel that I've gotten nearly enough of her husband to make my own opinions. It seems like they're always busy nowadays." The young girl paused and then smiled up at Michael. "That's why I'm glad I've got you!"

Michael grinned down at her. "Howl isn't so bad," he said gently. Michael's face took on a queer look. "On the inside," he added, after a thought.

The bell above the bakery door tinkled a happy signal at the entering of a patron. Michael quickly let go of Martha, blushing as he stepped sharply backward and nearly tripped over a box at his feet. Martha let out a hearty laugh and rushed to the counter in a whirl of bright skirts to greet the customer with a cheery "Welcome back!"

"Hello, Martha." The girl's voice was so quiet that Michael shot a look backward as he retreated to the door. A girl with light brown hair was standing quietly at the counter with a dazed smile on her face. She wore a light blue dress with a simple design that suited her well and clutched a whicker basket with both hands as if afraid it might run away. In spite of all this, she had such intense eyes that Michael very nearly stopped to take a closer look. The girl, however, turned and was startled to see Michael looking her way. She blushed and dipped her head.

To prevent himself from lingering, Michael pulled himself away and rushed from the shop, making sure not to bang the door on the way out.

He ended up walking aimlessly through the marketplace, having left the other boy in charge. Michael wasn't anxious to get back to the shop. The market wasn't very busy in the earlier hours of the morning, but most of the shops were already open. His eyes wandered over the colorful shop windows, examining the various wares for sale. The fact was that he was still searching for a suitable engagement ring and wasn't having any luck.

He paused in front of a shop selling jewelry from the south. Each jewel seemed to sparkle brightly in a different color, though the sun was hidden behind a thick, early morning mist. Michael bent in order to have a closer look at the rings set purposely in front. His eyes became lost in a certain light blue stone that he was certain would highlight Martha's gray eyes.

He was quite lost in such examining when he was suddenly startled by a man leaping from the roof above the shop. Michael turned quickly to see the man land lightly on his feet before putting both hands in his pockets and setting off across the marketplace.

Michael would have been more surprised if the man had not been wearing what looked quite like wizardly clothing. As it were, the man did indeed look very much like a wizard in his deep green tunic combined with the large, blue ring on his left hand. The man's long, dark hair was also tied back securely with a piece of twine, making it seem as though he made such dangerous excursions merely in passing. And he probably does, Michael thought wisely, thinking of Howl as he turned back to the rings. Thoughts of the tall, dark wizard were lost in the dazzling brightness of the jewels.

* * *

"Sophie! Where did you put my suit that the Ambassador gave me?" Howl wailed from upstairs. Sophie cringed and attempted to ignore him. Morgan was finally playing quietly and she was attempting to read a book Lettie had lent her three weeks ago. She fixed her nose closer to the page, hoping to block the banging from above her head sufficiently enough for her to concentrate. Morgan popped a tin soldier into his mouth with a gurgle.

"Sooooooooooooophie!" continued the calls from the ceiling, "I can't find it _anywhere_!" Sophie shoved her face even farther into the book and wished with all her might that Howl could do things on his own. The words on the page were becoming blurred. Morgan began singing a very wet-sounding song from below her chair. Little cars and soldiers investigated Sophie's skirts to a slightly off-tune song about the alphabet.

As Howl carried on banging and calling in tandem from above, the little voice from below began singing "Sophie, Sophie, Sophie, Sophe" to the tune of the earlier song. Sophie was nearly at her wit's end when someone knocked at the door.

"I'm going out!" she yelled up the stairs, slamming her book down. "Don't you try and stop me!" The noises from upstairs paused for a moment as the cause contemplated this statement.

"But you were coming to dinner with me tonight," came the nearly pleading reply. "You're going to send me off to that boring meeting all alone? I even ordered a sitter."

Sophie was thrown. The truth was that she had completely forgotten about the meeting in Kingsbury that night. Someone knocked at the door again. Morgan pulled in a deep breath and screamed "DOOR!" as loud as he could. He fell over in laughter amongst the pile of toys that had accumulated around him. Sophie stood there with her arms at her sides, trying to think of how to answer Howl. The knock came again, a bit harder this time.

"Are you going to answer that?" Howl asked, peering down the staircase.

"Yes!" Sophie shot back. She spun heatedly around, annoyed at herself for being so forgetful. She pulled open the door to find a small girl with thin, mousey hair standing on the front porch of their mansion in the valley, fist raised to knock again. The girl quickly put down her hand, smoothing her skirt and hitching up her whicker basket as she did so. She then curtsied hurriedly and opened her mouth to explain herself, only to be interrupted by the slamming of the bathroom door from behind Sophie.

Sophie excused herself and whipped around to yell at Howl, only to find Howl half dressed and pulling at the locked door to the bathroom with both hands. "He's magically locked it shut!" Howl bellowed, pulling harder.

"Who has?" Sophie asked, bewildered.

"_Morgan_ has!" Howl shouted angrily, now putting his full weight against the door. "Good job he's done of it, too!"

"Morgan can do magic?" Sophie asked, her jaw nearly dropping open, "since when?"

"I have no idea," Howl said, stepping back. There was a high pitched giggle from behind the door. Howl and Sophie just stared.

"Was...that Morgan?" Howl asked. His face looked a bit perplexed.

There was a sharp intake of breath from the girl at the door. Sophie's eyes bulged as the girl rushed past her and Howl-nearly bowling him over in the process- and easily pulled open the bathroom door only to discover an empty, albeit unnaturally clean, room. "He's not in there!" Sophie cried, shocked. Howl merely looked intrigued.

The girl stepped back, a relieved look crossing her face. She then turned slowly, pausing in the direction of the table. As the girl peeked under the table, Sophie's shock wore off and she stomped toward the intruder, planning to demand where Morgan had gone. Obviously, the girl knew _something_. Her sharp gasp had given _that_ one away.

"Found him," the girl said sweetly, Sophie's rage unnoticed. The small girl shook the whicker basket she held and a familiar, grubby little boy shot out from under the table. The girl pulled a tart from under the checkered cloth and gave it to Morgan who gave a scream of delight and proceeded to chomp it down. Sophie's annoyance increased with the fact the girl paid her no mind.

The door to the bathroom slammed once more as Howl left the room. Sophie and the girl were left to stare at each other as the sounds of hot water came from beyond the wall. The girl coughed softly and set down her whicker basket on the table.

"Uh…" she began, but trailed off as she looked up at Sophie's face. Her eyes grew wide. She bit her lip, averted her eyes, and began again.

"Y-your husband hired me to watch your child," she said softly to the floor.

"What?" Sophie asked, outraged. Howl had said nothing of this! Did he really expect her to leave Morgan with someone whose name she did not even know? To express such misgivings, Sophie extracted Morgan from his pile of toys and held him closely. He began to squirm a bit in protest.

"I'm from the orphanage down the street," the girl continued, though the floor had not replied. A few strands of light brown hair fell across her eyes. "He's quite an outward man, your husband." She shot a peek up at Sophie to seek her reaction, but then lowered her eyes once more, apparently unable to handle any reaction Sophie may dish out.

Morgan had now gone limp and was attempting to slide out from Sophie's arms. "He certainly is," Sophie retorted, hitching Morgan back up, "but I'm afraid your services aren't needed because I'm not going. You can return to wherever you came from, my dear, and take your basket of goodies with you."

"But!" the girl exclaimed, raising her head fully at last, "But your husband gave me payment in advance! I can't leave! I have to stay and work for it!"

Sophie was surprised by this sudden outburst. She hitched Morgan up again and looked the young woman head on. The girl in question was now clenching her hands together and staring pleadingly at Sophie. She seemed very determined to be useful. Something clicked within Sophie and she sighed in recognition.

"I'm sorry but you'll have to…" Sophie trailed off as Morgan began sliding again. He now seemed to possess the consistency of warm jelly. Not to mention the fact that this jelly had feet; feet that kicked whenever Sophie's guard seemed to be down.

The girl watched as Sophie's hold loosened to the point where she seemed to be merely clutching Morgan by his armpits. The boy was now kicking his legs very fast, trying his hardest to be released, his little mouth screwed up in concentration. This whole process was acted out silently, Morgan's entire focus being devoted to getting away from Sophie's grip.

"Oh bother it all!" Sophie cried and released Morgan at last. This put her in an even worse mood than before. It didn't help that the girl seemed to be smiling with the conclusion of this performance. When Sophie directed her glare in the girl's direction, the young adult made her mouth into a thin line and directed her attention back to the floor tiles.

"I'm sorry," the girl said softly. Morgan was back amongst his various play things, his little arms crossed. The expression he wore was still one of deliberate concentration and his nose was wrinkled with the effort.

"He's going through a phase," Sophie replied patiently. _Very_ patiently, she thought, _too_ patiently. She marched to the bathroom door and rapped on it three times. She then stood back, crossed her arms similar to the way Morgan's were set behind her, and tapped her foot.

There was no reply from within other than the continuous sound of pouring water. She rapped on the wood of the door three more times and stepped back to listen once more. She could feel the eyes of the girl watching her from behind as there (once again) was no response other than the sound of running water.

"Howl, please!" she called, uncrossing her arms at last. "You can't just leave me here to deal with this on my own! I don't know this girl at all. Really, what was the point in hiring someone I don't know? You could have asked Lettie or Martha! Howl!" She shouted his name a second time and the water ceased its splashing.

"We agreed my bathroom time would be my bathroom time!" Howl shouted back and the sounds of running water commenced.

"Howl!" Sophie shrieked, stamping her foot, "You have to come out! This situation is totally different from anything we _discussed_! Come out now before I—!"

"No!" Howl's interjection interrupted whatever threat Sophie had begun with a small and suspiciously magical bang from behind to back it up. "You had your bothered intervention and now I have my bathroom time! I _earned_ this, Sophie!"

Sophie would have shrieked in indignation had the girl not been standing behind her, staring with large, rounded eyes as this argument played out. The girl looked over at Morgan, quietly playing near to her, with the same expression. After a few minutes, the argument was reduced to Sophie simply shouting for Howl to come out in between beating on the door with her fists. Howl replied each time with a shouted "No!" that would only increase the fiery power from behind Sophie's clenched hands.

After about ten full minutes of this, Sophie dropped her arms, groaned loud enough for Howl to hear, and turned back to the now very alarmed girl behind her.

"What's your name, girl?" Sophie inquired, heading towards the pantry as she did so. She might as well begin Morgan's dinner.

"I'm sorry! It's Kendra," the girl said. Sophie peered into the pantry. They seemed to be out of eggs again. Morgan gobbled them down like there was no tomorrow. She peeked around at the culprit to find him rubbing his eyes and yawning. No wonder! He'd refused to take his nap that evening. At least he'll sleep tonight, Sophie thought. She grabbed a loaf of bread.

"I can cook!" Kendra said from behind her. Sophie turned around to give her a glare before shutting the door to the pantry.

"I'm sure you can, dear, but I already made it clear that I'm not leaving." Sophie looked sadly toward the hearth. Where was Calcifer when you needed him? He always seemed to be there when you didn't. There was a gentle rush of air as Kendra hurried to her basket. She pulled a small meat pie from within and set it on the table.

"I already made something for Morgan!" she said proudly. Sophie only stared. She had made a pie? What sort of creature was this girl?

"Oh, and I brought toys, too, but it looks like you already have those." Kendra gave a little tinkling laugh that just barely shook her chest. Morgan looked up sleepily at the word 'toy' and blinked at the pie for a second before yawning again. Sophie was surprised he hadn't run for it. That was usually what he did around any sort of food, food not nearly as good as that pie now smelled.

Kendra looked over at the bathroom before turning to Sophie. "I really do know what I'm doing," she said. "I sort of have my own child…" Sophie spun around at this, still clutching the bread.

"You have your _own_ child?" Sophie sputtered, unable to believe that such a young and slight girl could manage such a feat.

"She's actually my sister. I'm raising her. I don't really have any children…" Kendra turned slightly pink and trailed off. This made more sense to Sophie. She sighed and turned back to put away the bread. As she did so, a disgruntled Howl emerged from the bathroom bringing a strong sent of lavender with him. Sophie ignored him and went to pick up Morgan again. Now that he was sleepy, it would be a bit easier to get a grip on him. Sophie sometimes wondered why Morgan never attempted escape from Howl.

With a bit of a noble air, Howl continued to stand in the door of the bathroom, watching Sophie.

"If you're waiting for an apology…" Sophie began, grabbing up Morgan.

Howl let out a breath of annoyance. "I'm actually waiting for you." Sophie sent a look of death in his direction and headed up the stairs.

"Sophie!" Howl yelled after her. Kendra stared at him with widened eyes, her hands clutching her skirts.

"Please, sir, I already gave my earnings to the orphanage," she said. She was merely upset, but Howl figured he knew women and could sense an approaching flood. He smiled a soothing and majestic smile.

"Don't worry, she's just being difficult. I'm sure she'll come around eventually." Kendra gave a half-hearted smile at this. She was still downcast, though, when Sophie returned from putting Morgan in his room.

"I don't like this," Sophie said stubbornly. She was looking in Kendra's direction. The poor girl tried to straighten herself up as much as she could. Howl did not say anything. He simply looked impatient. Sophie stared back menacingly. "This is another one of your schemes," Sophie said.

"How can you say that?" Howl asked, throwing his hands in the air. This motion made his sleeves flap flamboyantly. "I told you I was going to hire a sitter three days ago."

"You did not!" Sophie cried back through clenched teeth. Kendra looked anxiously up the stairs.

"Well, I _hired_ one three days ago," Howl said stubbornly.

Sophie groaned loudly. "Obviously!" she shot back.

Kendra was becoming increasingly agitated. She was now clasping her skirts even tighter, so tight that her knuckles were becoming white with the effort. At last, when the fight seemed to come to a crescendo, the girl could no longer take it and fled up the staircase. Neither Sophie nor Howl noticed her absence and continued their shouting match without pause.

"I'm sorry!" Howl pleaded, in a voice that sounded as if he'd rather have slapped himself in the forehead.

"No, you're not!" Sophie said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Sophie, please stop. You know I don't care for arguing." Such statements, as Howl knew, only made Sophie more argumentative. This was usually his revenge. Sophie's mouth opened to protest but there was an interrupting crash from the direction in which Kendra had fled. The couple stood stiffly where they were until a second crash and a scream followed the first disturbance.

Sophie and Howl stared at each other in horror, fight forgotten. "She's in Morgan's room," Howl said softly.

Sophie could only nod. They proceeded to stampede up the stairs. Sophie got to Morgan's room first. The door was slightly ajar, but she threw it open anyway to find the floor as messy as always; the addition being Kendra attempting to fend off the forceful hug from a large, stuffed bunny. The rabbit kept hopping closer to her only to have his wishes slashed by her screams and flailing arms. His large bow tie flopped forward with every hop. This made his approach even more frightening as the bow tie threatened to smoother the small girl if ever the bunny were to gain purchase of her. Naturally, she did not think fondly of being caught and was attempting to back away and fight off the animal at the same time. Considering the fact that she was about half the size of the great, hopping beast, chances were not good.

"Sophie!" Howl yelled, pushing past his wife, "_What_ have you created?!"

"I thought you knew!" Sophie said over the continuing screams, "Isn't that why you were so anxious a moment ago?"

"I figured she must have fallen over the clutter in here! Your whirlwind of cleaning seems to somehow pass over this room each time!"

Sophie harrumphed and looked away. "It's only because it seems like every time I clean in here, it's only messier than when I began after a few hours." Howl looked thoughtful for a moment but then was once again captured by Kendra's peril. He flicked his fingers in her direction. This seemed to have no effect. Sending a tortured glance in Sophie's direction, Howl rolled up his sleeves, raised his arms, and muttered powerful words that seemed to ring with thunder. The monster rabbit crumpled into itself and shrank down to normal.

Howl strode across the room as best he could, taking care not to step on any of the expensive playthings spread over the rug. He helped Kendra to her feet and turned to the crib in the corner. He examined it for a long moment before judging Morgan to still be asleep. A small line of worry crept across his brow before he hurriedly smoothed it over and replaced it with relief. He instead turned to Sophie.

"Anything to say?" he asked her. Kendra was behind him, staring at Sophie with wide eyes. She wasn't crying, nor did she seem on the verge of panic. The girl was merely a bit shaken. Sophie was taken aback by her calm demeanor. That rabbit had been as strong as Sophie could make it.

Sophie sighed. "I'll go to the meeting on one condition." Howl raised an eyebrow. "You don't use what I told you against me and continue to keep up your side of the bargain." Her husband's face took on a forced expression of bewilderment.

"And what bargain would that be? Could it have been the one where I get my time in the bathroom?"

"Fine!" Sophie cried, disgusted. She nearly threw up her arms in defeat. "Just no spiders in the bed!" Kendra looked appalled as a laughing Howl pulled Sophie from the room by her waist. He sent a passing wave over his shoulder in the girl's direction.

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_

_--blacklitdogstar_


End file.
